Researchers at Loma Linda University have conducted a study that documents the impact of mothers who smoke during pregnancy on adverse birth outcomes in San Bernardino County.

âEstimating the Impact of Smoking Cessation During Pregnancy: The San Bernardino County Experienceâ has been published in the online edition of the Journal of Community Health.

The analysis of all births in the county during 2007-2008 indicated that for every 35 women who quit smoking during pregnancy, one case of low birth weight or pre-term birth was prevented. The cost of 35 women enrolling in a maternal smoking cessation program was estimated to be far less than the cost of a lengthy stay in the hospital for a low birth weight or pre-term infant.

âTo our knowledge, this is the first countywide study measuring maternal tobacco use from San Bernardino County,â said Jayakaran S. Job, principal investigator on the study and chairman of the Department of Global Health at Loma Linda University School of Public Health. âWe are very proud of the work that has been done on this study and only hope that it will have a positive impact on the community and beyond.â

The research team was comprised of Loma Linda University faculty and Loma Linda University Medical Center physicians, who began the study in 2008.

The research team discovered that mothers who quit smoking during pregnancy had reduced risks for low birth weight and pre-term outcomes compared to those who continued to smoke during pregnancy.

There is also a significantly lower risk of pre-term birth and low birth weight in mothers who had never smoked.

The study also incorporated variables such as age, race and years of education, which also had an impact on birth outcomes related to smoking.

The project, which was funded by the National Institute of Child and Human Development, was inspired by the fact that as the largest county in the contiguous United States, San Bernardino County has experienced one of the highest rates of infant mortality, low birth weight and pre-term birth in California since 2009.

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